SANTA ROSA, Calif- Sonoma State blasted three solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game up at 10-10, but Cal State Dominguez Hills countered with three more runs in the top of the ninth, including a two-run shot to deep left center field by Dean Benavidez, capping a muscle flexing showcase by both teams as the Toros defeated the Seawolves, 13-10, on Sunday at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa. The Seawolves fall below .500 at 8-9 overall and just 2-6 in conference play. The Toros improve to 12-7 (8-4 CCAA).
More details to come...While Sonoma State played home run derby, Cal State Dominguez Hills wreaked havoc on the base paths, stealing nine bases while hitting a couple of home runs itself. It all started in the top of the fourth when Kevin Pillar reached on an infield single then rounded the bases on a wild pitch, a stolen base and then another wild pitch to give the Toros a 1-0 lead. Then, Kevin Logan walked, stole second and third base with John Skala up at the plate before Skala sent a moon-shot to center field for the 3-0 advantage.
The Seawolves came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Ryan Stevens hammered a 1-2 pitch to the gap in left center field, scoring Randy Wells and Kyle Jones. Stevens was thrown out at third, trying to stretch his double into a triple. Chad Inderwiesche doubled four batters later, scoring Max Shupe to knot the game at three. Toro starting pitcher David Fair then loaded the bases and was relieved by Michael Cruz, who walked in the fourth run of the inning. Fair forced Jones to fly out to center field in the next at bat, ending the Seawolf threat.
After Tyler Hess, who relieved starting pitcher Kendall Davis in the third, didn't allow CSUDH to score in the fifth, Stevens homered to center field, scoring Wells to increase the Sonoma State lead to 6-3.
However, the lead wouldn't last long. Mark Lincoln came on in the sixth for the Seawolves and allowed five runs on just four hits, but Jayson Richards stopped the bleeding, forcing Steve Carrillo to fly out to end the sixth that saw the Toros jump ahead 8-6.
Wells added a RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to close the gap to 8-7, but CSUDH added two more runs in the top of the eighth for a comfortable 10-7 lead.
With just three swings of the bat, Sonoma State tied up the ballgame at 10-10 in their next offensive opportunity, as Joey Parigi, Jones and Austin Hogans entered their names into the derby, smashing solo shots that cleared the fences, and more.
The momentum would swing very quickly, though. Derrek Duarte doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Logan. Skala singled him home, then Skala eventually scored on the buzz killing home run off the bat of Benavidez for the 13th and final run for the Toros.
Sean Wardour (1-1), who replaced Matt Phillips in the eighth, earned the victory after retiring the side in the Seawolf ninth, ending the 23 run, 25 hit, three hour and 31 minute marathon on a beautiful Sunday.
Casey Slate (0-1) got the loss for the Seawolves after just pitching one-third of the eighth inning. Jones and Wells had three hits to lead Sonoma State while Stevens and Inderwiesche added two. Stevens had a huge day at the plate, with the double, home run and four RBI.
Carlos Leyva, Abel Medina, Pillar, Skala and Benavidez all had two hits for the Toros.
Sonoma State will look to get back to .500 on Tuesday when it hosts Cal State Stanislaus at 2 p.m. at Seawolf Diamond before traveling south to UC San Diego next weekend for a four-game series in La Jolla.
Box Score: Cal State Dominguez Hills 13, Sonoma State 10